1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for searching TV program data via the Internet, and particularly to a system that manages TV program data received from broadcasting stations and provides users with TV program data and tabulated data of searches performed by the user on the TV program data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of media used conventionally to provide users with information on TV programs include advertisements on TV programs and TV guide magazines. Advertisements of TV programs include those that are broadcast during station breaks between programs and those broadcast during a program to advertise upcoming programs in the series. However, the time period in which programs are advertised is determined by the broadcasting stations and, due to the varied lifestyles of viewers and the limitations of broadcasting times, it is not possible to reach all viewers with this advertising method.
While TV guide magazines are not restricted by time, as are the TV program advertisements, they have less impact on the viewers than the TV program advertisements because the magazines cannot include video or sound.
Further, viewer percentages for TV programs are obtained for periods during and at the end of a broadcast. This data is published after the program has been aired. However, an index showing the interest of viewers for programs to be broadcast in the future is not available.